


Afterglow

by ladylagunitas



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Black Jackals, Canon Compliant, Idiots in Love, KageHina - Freeform, One Shot, Post Game, everyone goes to dinner, spoilers through 389
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:34:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23497597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladylagunitas/pseuds/ladylagunitas
Summary: After the Schweiden Adlers vs MSBY Black Jackals game, a bunch of the players and a whole suite of Karasuno and Shiratorizawa alumni go out for a group dinner to celebrate. Surrounded by teammates and old friends, Kageyama finds himself enjoying the afterglow of the game and the company. He doesn't get a chance to properly talk to Hinata until after dinner, but it's worth the wait.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Comments: 10
Kudos: 319





	Afterglow

**Author's Note:**

> *sobbing into my keyboard* i just— i just love them so much.

After the game, they all go out to dinner. It was Bokuto’s idea at first, and he convinces half of each team to eat at a restaurant he insists is the best ever. Atsumu makes a huge deal of Sakua coming, ribbing him to the point that he threatens to leave, but he comes along anyway. Each of the Karasuno and Shiratorizawa alumni who came to watch the match come, too, and they’re past the twenty person mark before they’re done waiting for everyone.

Kageyama’s high school teammates, seniors and juniors alike, are all buzzing with excitement about the game. Suga fawns over Hinata, who blossoms under all the attention and affection like he’s never been complimented in his life. It seems that he hadn’t had a chance to see everybody since being back in Japan, since all the attention is on him.

But when has it not been? Kageyama hangs back as they gather outside the stadium, content to observe. He stands to the side, out of the way of the people vying for Hinata’s attention, and listens to the conversation. They ask Hinata about Brazil and the Black Jackals, and he gets filled in on what everyone else has been doing. 

Shimada and Takinoue, as well as Osamu Miya, are the last to join them. The restaurant is walking distance, fortunately, and they don’t need to take their massive group through public transit. They start walking, moving in a big, awkward clump, but Hinata is in the lead. 

He’s walking backwards and telling stories interspersed with Portuguese and English. His voice changes, subtly, as he effortlessly glides between his three languages for comedic effect, but Kageyama isn’t really listening to the words. He’s watching Hinata draw nearer and nearer to an electrical box, and doesn’t say anything when he walks right into it, Yachi’s warning coming a beat too late.

Hinata bounces off the box and crashes into Bokuto, who doesn’t even budge— probably because he’s probably used to it. Hinata’s freaky reflexes take over and he leaps back to the head of the group, which Hoshiumi takes as a challenge, of course. The two of them start squawking about jump heights and reach and Kageyama watches them with amusement, and maybe a little bit of wonder. They’re both so… ridiculous.

Yamaguchi manages to reign the two of them in when they start doing warmups right there on the streets of Sendai. Tsukishima delivers his snarky comment right on schedule.

For a moment, Kageyama is struck with such an extreme sense of deja vu that he finds himself feeling a little nostalgic. Being back with his old friends, because they were never just teammates, makes him feel warm. 

Yeah, Kageyama doesn’t feel like he lost at all.

A sharp elbow to his side drags him out of his thoughts, and he glances down. Suga grins at him wickedly, as if he’d read Kageyama’s every thought. “You could join in, you know,” he nods towards the front of their group. “Then it’d really be like old times.”

It seems like they’re getting close to the restaurant. Akaashi is pointing at a sign ahead and Kageyama stuffs his hands in his pockets. He didn’t want to join in, not yet, at least. He just wanted to enjoy the afterglow of the match for a little while longer.

“Old times?” Daichi scoffs, shaking his head. “What are you, an old man?”

“Well he  _ is _ older than the rest of us,” Asahi adds contemplatively. 

The whole thing devolves into Suga pinching the both of them and bringing up old, embarrassing stories from high school. He spares no one in his onslaught, dredging up only the most mortifying tales, but their group arrives at the restaurant before he can get to Kageyama.

“You know,” Suga shuffles in close behind him, “You were all really awesome today. I was really proud.”

Kageyama clears his throat, giving him an awkward, “Thank you,” in response. He feels a lot like he did when he was fifteen, thanks to that compliment. 

“Yeah, he was bawling the whole time,” Daichi says from over his shoulder. 

They all crowd into the lobby, but a few of the Adlers players get stuck outside because the group is too big to fit. A frazzled waitress looks at the number of people they have and pales considerably. After a few minutes of waiting for the restaurant to push some tables together, they’re led to a room that looks like it's reserved for private parties. 

Kageyama still hasn’t spoken to Hinata, not since before the match. He’d wanted to as soon as the final whistle blew, but hadn’t had the chance. Hinata had been whisked away for interviews and pictures, everyone wanted a piece of him, after that debut. 

A lot of the Shiratorizawa folks end up crowded around the Adler’s side of the table. Kageyama is somewhere in the middle, between Ushijima and Atsumu. Across from him, Akaashi and Bokuto are shoulder to shoulder. Hinata is crammed between Hosiumi and Bokuto. None of the three of them have any sense of personal space, they’re loudly reliving the best plays from the game with big gestures despite the cramped space. Kageyama regrets not trying harder to sit next to Hinata, but at least he can see him. A few people at the ends of the table, like Sakusa and Tsukishima, are so far away it doesn’t even seem like they’re there.

“Do ya mean to receive those with your chest  _ every _ time Bokuto?” Atsumu asks with a raised eyebrow, “I thought maybe they were flukes in practice but it seems to happen pretty often.”

Akaashi snorts, his dark eyes crinkled with amusement behind his glasses. “He has practiced them,” Akaashi says, and this grabs Hinata’s attention from Hoshiumu. 

“You gotta teach me that!” Hinata says, “I’ll practice with you.”

Of course he will. 

Bokuto flings an arm around him at the same time Hoshiumi nudges him for attention. Kageyama wrinkles his nose. He’s never really understood how it can be so easy for people like them to be so touchy. 

Atsumu, too, puts his elbow on the back of Kageyama’s chair when the waitress returns to take everyone’s orders. He doesn’t mean to, but Kageyama leans a little bit into Ushijima’s space as a result. Ushijima glances down at him, then looks at Hinata and back before turning back to his conversation with his old classmates. Kageyama recognizes them, but doesn’t remember their names that well. Ushijima’s expression was as unreadable as ever, but it was a subtly pointed look.

Kageyama glances over to Hinata, and finds him staring.

Startled, he stares back. Hinata quickly breaks eye contact and drops his eyes back to the menu. Kageyama continues to stare, waiting for him to look back up, but he doesn’t. He leans back and shouts something down to Tanaka.

There are so many people in their group that it takes ages for the waitress to circle back around to Kageyama. He orders the same thing he gets everywhere and then drinks some water. The room gets louder and louder as the conversations compete with each other, and soon it’s just a blur of familiar voices. He hears Ushijima asking about Coach Washijo, and Hoshiumi grilling the old little giant about volleyball and manga. 

Of course, Hinata is sucked into a new conversation with every passing minute. Unlike Kageyama, he’s within speaking distance of their old upperclassmen. He catches Tanaka’s sister telling him that he grew into a fine man, and he blushes right up to his hairline. 

It’s true, though, he’s changed a lot since they graduated.

Hinata looks so different, but also so much the same. His hair is no longer a wreck, and even though it’s still a little damp from his after-game shower, it’s obediently falling onto his forehead and not at those ridiculous angles it used to. He’s still a little more tan than he was before Brazil, but he’s definitely not as brown as he was in the pictures he sent from the other side of the world. There’s a fading tan line on the bridge of his nose, probably from wearing sunglasses. Hinata’s smile is the same. So is his laugh. Even though his voice is a little deeper, it’s still the same too.

Kageyama feels like it’s been more than a couple years since he saw Hinata last. It also feels like no time has passed at all. 

The drinks and appetizers arrive, and before anyone can dig in, Atsumu proposes a toast. He makes a smug, bratty comment about the outcome of the game and when everyone clinks their glass, half of the table is shouting and the other half is laughing. Kageyama only asked for water, and when he raised his glass, he noticed that Hinata hadn’t gotten a beer either. It’s kind of surprising to see that he’s not drinking. He’s such a social butterfly that Kageyama expected him to be a seasoned partier.

Hinata catches him staring this time, and grins so wide his eyes close. “Cheers!” he says, in English, and his voice cuts through all the chatter, as if he’s speaking directly to Kageyama. A chorus of “cheers” ripples through the table, and he murmurs his before taking a sip of his water. 

The dinner ends up being ridiculous in a number of different ways. Kiyoko manages to get a laugh out of Sakusa, and when Tsukishima’s brother starts bragging about his games in Sendai, Tsukishima himself gets riled up enough to start seriously drinking. Atsumu winds up on Suga’s good side, and they start poking fun at everyone at the table. Asahi looks mortified when the two of them start to tease Ushijima, but he handles it with his usual, unshakeable bluntness...which only sets the two of them off even more. 

After the plates are cleared from the table and the last round of beers comes around, Hinata excuses himself from the table. “I’m going to leave, but thank you all for your support!” he smiles at everyone at the table, and Kageyama thinks he hears Daichi telling Suga not to start crying again. 

“Shouyou! Already?” Bokuto cries, grabbing the side of his shirt, “The night is barely getting started!” Akaashi shakes his head, but he’s smiling. 

“You know it’s not gonna work,” Atsumu says, rolling his eyes. “We’ve tried.”

Kageyama glances between the two of them, then back to Hinata, who’s pulling on his jacket. The dark color suits him. 

He drops some money on the table and shrugs, “Gotta make sure I get my eight hours,” he explains. “But I’ll be around for the rest of the week if anyone wants to get together later!” The offer causes half the table to start shouting when they’re available, but Hinata just laughs and tells them to call him instead. 

Kageyama throws his credit card down on the table and gets up, “I’m leaving too.”

“Ohh, is mister olympian paying for dinner?” Suga chimes. 

“Sure,” Kageyama says, shrugging. The bill would be big, but he didn’t care. He would pay more to have the chance to talk to Hinata alone. 

“Nah, it’s actually mister power curry that’s footing the bill,” Atsumu says. Suga howls with laughter, and Kageyama hears Tanaka say that he hasn’t seen the commercial. 

“You don’t have to pay for him,” Osumu calls from the end of the table. “He doesn’t deserve it.”

Kageyama looks to Ushijima for help. He waves him off, “I’ll get your card. Have a good night.”

“Thanks,” he mumbles, grabbing his jacket off of his chair. Hinata is waiting for him, watching him with a grin on his face, and they leave together.

A wolf whistle follows them out. It could have been Suga or Saeko, she was looking a little flushed.

“It was probably Suga,” Hinata says, laughing. He waves at the waitstaff as they leave, and they go from frazzled to enamored in half an instant. It’s not the type of restaurant that would be used to getting pro athletes as customers, and besides that, Hinata stands out wherever he goes. He doesn’t need much more than a person’s attention to get them to like him. 

“Probably,” Kageyama replies, thinking about how red Suga had looked on their way out. It wasn’t surprising that Suga and Saeko were the biggest drinkers of the entire group. 

They step into the cool night air and Hinata throws his arms over his head in a stretch. “Ahh, nothing like a good meal after a good game. I’m so full,” he says, sighing happily.

“You ate more than Bokuto, I’m surprised your tiny body could handle that much food,” Kageyama says. Hinata kicks him in the back of the leg, too fast for Kageyama to avoid. He stumbles but stays upright, “Hey!” he shouts.

Hinata dances out of reach before Kageyama can grab him, “ _ That’s _ what you’re going to say?”

“What else am I supposed to say, dumbass?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Hinata relaxes and puts his hands in his pockets, smiling as he begins to head down the sidewalk. “Maybe something like, how good the game was, how happy you are to see me, or you could tell me how much you missed me!” This last one he throws over his shoulder, glancing back with that classic, smug, challenging smile of his. His cheeks are a little pink from laughing, and the hazy yellow streetlight makes him look like he’s glowing. 

Kageyama begins to follow. “I’m not going to say any of that.”

“I know,” Hinata says. “But I also know you’re already thinking it.”

He rolls his eyes, and they drift down the city streets, walking aimlessly. It really is like old times, when they used to run to the store for snacks after practice. They always meandered home together, taking their time until they had to part ways. “I’m not thinking any of that.”

Hinata hums like he’s not convinced. “Oh!” he bounces lightly on his feet and points down the street. There’s a playground tucked away on the corner, just streetlight for the whole park. “Race you there!” he shouts, and then he’s gone before Kageyama has a chance to realize what he just did. 

“Hey, you little runt! That’s cheating!” Kageyama tears off down the road after him. Hinata cackles and sprints ahead. It doesn’t matter that they played a full five, hard sets. They both run at full speed.

They’re both panting by the time they come to a stop at the playground.

“That’s two for me today,” Hinata says, grinning. 

“I still,” Kageyama takes a deep breath and straightens up, not really feeling the sting of today’s losses. “I still have more wins over all.”

Hinata laughs again, and it’s that bright, ringing laugh that Kageyama actually did miss. “I don’t think so,” Hinata says. 

“I went to the  _ Olympics _ ,” Kageyama says.

Hinata went to sit on the swing. There’s a full jungle gym and a picnic area, but they have the place to themselves. “I’m going to the Olympics, too.”

Kageyama’s heart starts beating faster, “You are? Already?”

“No, not yet,” he answers, shaking his head. “I haven’t gotten an offer or anything, but I’m going to go.”

Snorting, Kageyama rolls his eyes and joins Hinata on the swing set. “Focus on making a name for yourself in the league, first.” He remembers something from one of the earlier sets, “By the way, I think Romero maybe recognized you.”

“Oh?”Hinata perks up, his eyes glittering. “What did he say?”

Kageyama blinks, startled by the light and shadow playing over Hinata’s eager expression. “Uh, something about a ninja?”

“No way!” he inches closer, “My nickname back in Brazil was Ninja Shouyou! Did he say anything else? Please, Kageyama, you have to tell me.”

_ That’s a cool nickname _ , Kageyama thinks. “That’s a dumb nickname, he didn’t say anything else.” 

“Oh, please! Like you even  _ have _ a nickname you grumpy jerk!” Hinata kicks his feet like a little kid and threatens, “I’m going to make up a shitty nickname for you and tell all the press it's what everyone called you in school.”

Kageyama rolls his eyes and tells him he’s too dumb for that to work. They argue about it, then start to actually catch up. It’s an expansion of a conversation they’d had over text, when Hinata had first returned to Japan, but it’s better in person. They talk for ages about their current teams and training regimens, then they move onto their old classmates, old rivals, and even their old coaches. Hinata tells him that he spoke to Ukai at least twice a month the whole time he was in Brazil. 

It’s an easy conversation, easier than with anyone else, Kageyama thinks, even when silence falls between them. He lets himself enjoy it.

“I did miss you.”

Hinata’s head whips around so fast that Kageyama’s worried he gave himself whiplash. He doesn’t glance over to meet Hinata’s eyes. He kicks the playground sand and starts swinging. He’s way too tall to do it well, but he thinks that if he tried, he could eventually get air. 

“I missed you, too,” Hinata says.

Kageyama stops kicking his feet and twists in his seat. The chains of the swing creak as he turns to face him. He’s painfully aware of his heartbeat when he says, “I wanted to see you in Rio.”

Hinata’s eyes widen a fraction, “You did? Why didn’t you say anything?” he kicks some sand at Kageyama’s feet, “I could have beaten you at beach volleyball and everything!”

Kageyama hums. Why  _ didn’t _ he say anything? While he was in Rio, he’d certainly started the text message multiple times. He even told Ushijima about it, but he’d been so busy. It’d been kind of overwhelming at the time, and he didn’t know if he could handle both the Olympics  _ and _ seeing Hinata. He’d been too nervous to reach out. “I didn’t want to distract you.”

Hinata snorts, “As if you could.”

Kageyama arches an eyebrow at him, unsure if he believes it. 

“You were just scared of getting your ass kicked on the beach,” Hinata proclaims. He kicks off the ground and starts a slow, lazy rhythm with the swing. He’s almost short enough to do it well, but he has to pull his feet pretty high to not make them drag. 

Of course, Hinata would fit on a children’s swing set, even though he’s an entire professional volleyball player. There’s an insult on the tip of Kageyama’s tongue, but he swallows it.  _ Ridiculous _ , he thinks.

“I snuck into the Olympic village,” Hinata admits after a moment. 

“You—” he thinks back to all the security at each of the events, which was nothing compared to the protections where the athletes had all stayed, “You  _ absolute  _ dumbass.”

Hinata starts to laugh at him, and keeps laughing until he doubles over. “Kageyama, your face!” He laughs so hard he snorts, and has to catch his breath, “I’m kidding,” he says. His voice wavers like he’s going to start again, “My indoor team volunteered with some of the cleanup. I took a tour one day.” He takes another look at Kageyama’s face again and  _ giggles _ , “Kageyama, I was  _ allowed  _ to be there.”

He’s not sure what kind of expression he’s making, but a memory floats to the surface. There’d been a day, just one day, when he’d been all but unable to resist calling Hinata. Was that the same day he’d been so close?

“I don’t do that kind of thing anymore,” Hinata said, shaking his head. He started swinging again, flicking his feet in the sand absentmindedly. 

“Could have fooled me.”

Hinata laughs again, and Kageyama's heart feels like it's pressing on his lungs. 

“Hey, let’s see who can jump off the swing farther,” he says, oblivious to the blush rising to Kageyama’s cheeks. “Just be careful not to break your ankle.”

“As if,” he replies. Kageyama kicks his feet until he’s got the swing all the way back, as far as it’ll go. His legs are still too long so it’s a little awkward, but Hinata is already getting air. Kageyama jumps, tucking his feet back, but they still catch the sand. He has trouble getting his momentum, but after a few moments, he’s swinging as high as Hinata. 

“Finally!” Hinata cries, “It took you forever.” He falls backward, away from Kageyama, and leans back, letting his feet point towards the sky. For a second, Kageyama is worried he’s going to fall out of the swing, but he doesn’t. 

“You’re the one that took forever!” Kageyama shouts, getting worked up. He kicks harder, going higher. When he reaches the peak, he hangs in the air for a split second before swinging back, and it makes his stomach flip. He feels like he’s on a rollercoaster, not a swing set designed for children.

“No way! I beat you to the top!” He does one more swing, and then when he reaches the apex of height, he launches out of his seat with a shout. He goes flying, but it’s controlled and effortless. His balance is perfect in the air, and Kageyama is a little annoyed that no matter how Hinata gets up into the air, he always sails through it like he belongs there. 

Kageyama jumps, too. He’s not used to the sand, and lands a little awkwardly. His feet touch the earth and then he pitches forward and falls on his face. He didn’t make it very far, at least comparatively. “Stupid  _ fucking _ sand,” he grumbles, mad at its existence all over again.

Hinata beat him this time, too. 

And now he’s laughing so hard he’s crying, and when he offers Kageyama a hand to help him up, Kageyama takes it and yanks. His laugh turns into a yelp of surprise and he crashes to the ground. Kageyama takes the opportunity to wrestle his face into the sand, for payback. 

It’s just like when they were fifteen. Racing and fighting and laughing. 

Hinata doesn’t stay down for long. He wriggles out of Kageyama’s grip and scuttles away, spitting playground sand. “Kageyama! That was so uncalled for!” He’s grinning though, and runs a hand through his hair to shake all the sand out, “And super gross, I just showered!” 

Kageyama stays on the ground and sits there, looking up at Hinata. His heart is doing funny things again, the way it did whenever his phone chimed in the last few years, or whenever Hinata managed to dig his serves back in third year. It’s not fair, that someone so short and ridiculous could do these things to him for so long. “I think it was called for.”

Hinata offers him a hand again and Kageyama lets him help him to his feet this time. His hand lingers on Kageyama’s, and he feels like he should say something. 

“I knew you missed me,” Hinata says. His voice is soft now, not teasing. 

Kageyama tightens his grip. “Are you really that much of a moron?” he asks, unable to let the insult slip. He’s worried it’s too much, and can’t stop what comes next, “Of course I did.”

“How much?” Hinata’s eyes are big and glittering with that intensity he gets sometimes. The one that has always, always pushed Kageyama past his limits. 

“So much.”

Hinata lets go of his hand and puts his hands on Kageyama’s shoulders. He takes a deep breath and says, very, very seriously, “I missed you more.”

Of course they were competing. With them, it was always a competition. This time it made him feel lightheaded, like he’d float away if Hinata’s hands weren’t holding him. 

And he’d really missed this. Missed the way Hinata touched him like it was the most natural thing in the world. His throat grows tight and he just stands there, looking and marveling at the person who had crashed into his life when he’d needed it the most.

Hinata’s smile fades, and his grip tightens. He jumps, suddenly, using Kageyama as a counterweight, but doesn’t go very high. Kageyama is too surprised and stiffens up, not wanting to knock them both to the ground again, but he feels like the earth fell away from his feet when Hinata kisses him. 

He lands and lets go.

Kageyama’s mouth drops open, his lips burning. Hinata is watching him with a careful expression, waiting to see how he reacts. 

He doesn’t know how to react. Kageyama grabs him and crushes him into his chest. He can’t stand to look at him, so he hugs him so tight that he’s sure anyone else would have popped under the pressure. But this is Hinata. Kageyama has never been too much for him. 

Hinata pulls his arms tight around Kageyama’s waist, and he feels him laughing again. He squeezes Kageyama super tight then pulls away and lifts his chin defiantly. He’s way too smug for the blush staining his cheeks and ears, and there’s still some sand on his jacket. “I win again,” he says, “That’s three for me today.”

And while that was true, Kageyama doesn’t feel like he lost anything at all. 


End file.
